(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
Nov 5 (Reuters) - European stocks hit a two-week high on
Thursday, supported by a handful of strong earnings reports,
more stimulus for Britain's economy, and a surge in Wall Street
stocks as the U.S. presidential election race came down to the
wire.
In its fifth day of gains, the pan-European STOXX 600 index
.STOXX rose 1.0% to hit its highest level since Oct. 20, with
technology stocks .SX8P once again leading the way.
UK's FTSE .FTSE gained 0.6% after the Bank of England
increased its already huge bond-buying stimulus by a
bigger-than-expected 150 billion pounds ($195 billion). .L
French lender Societe Generale SOGN.PA jumped 5.7% after
it swung back to quarterly profit as its equity trading business
continued to recover from a weak start to the year. German broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media PSMGn.DE gained
6.4% after it reinstated its outlook for the full year and
returned to profit in the third quarter.
U.S. stocks jumped 2% overnight and Asian stocks scaled a
near three-year peak as the likelihood of a gridlock in U.S.
Congress made investors optimistic that major policy changes
would be difficult to enact. MKTS/GLOB